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Take Back Responds to GA-6 Special Congressional Election Executive Director John Pudner released the following statement about this week's special election in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District: "Negative TV commercials finally stopped running in Atlanta this week, with the election of Republican Karen Handel over Democrat Jon Ossoff. Take Back Our Republic does not take positions on elections, but now that this election is over, we can comment on the millions of dollars that flooded this district through unverified credit card contributions. Voters have no way of knowing for sure who made these contributions because the bank wasn’t allowed to verify [...]

Americans of all political stripes are increasingly disgusted by our country’s broken campaign finance system. Many believe that the system is out of balance, with big money having far too much influence over policy — drowning out the voices of individual voters and leaving them feeling disconnected from their government. The problem has gotten exponentially worse over time, as shown by the change in giving patterns to federal candidates, parties, and committees. In 1994, small-dollar donors gave three times more money than donors giving $10,000 or more. Two decades later, those positions are reversed: Those who contribute over $10,000 now [...]

The career of Jeremy Durham, a Republican who once represented Tennessee’s 65th State House district, is now on a very different track than the one it was on just a few short years ago. Once labeled a “rising star,” the former state Young Republicans Chairman and energetic activist, has essentially seen all future political aspirations evaporate in a short amount of time.[1] Instead of rising on to leadership, a path that once seemed available to him, Durham’s arrogance and misconduct made him just the second Tennessee legislator to be expelled from the body since the Civil War. The 70-2 vote [...]

Takeback.org radio debuts THIS Friday, June 16. In the inaugural episode, host John Pudner builds on Matthew 6:24, arguing that if people cannot serve both God and money, then elected officials can not serve both big money and their constituents. Click HERE to listen online or tune-in to: KKIM 1000 AM in Albuquerque (12:30 p.m. MT), WDZY 1290 AM or FM 103.3 in Richmond, Virginia (11:30 a.m. ET); and WBXR 1140 AM or 101.3 FM in Huntsville, Alabama (10:30 a.m. CT).

In order to “Take Back Our Republic” and place influence back in the hands of “We the People,” information is paramount. That’s why we believe that the public deserves to know who is exerting influence on the process. The Garden State’s loose disclosure rules for outside organizations is beginning to get noticed. There, an outside organization called Stronger Foundations, Inc. has spent $275,100 on two legislative primaries in the northern portion of the state. However, despite the sizeable amount, voters know almost nothing about this group. No information is available about who is funding this effort. Consequently, voters in New [...]

In an opinion piece titled "Integrity of democratic elections at stake," the Albuquerque Journal featured a response to those attempting to hide political contributions from the public. The piece was written by Executive Director John Pudner, and starts: Take Back Our Republic (www.takeback.org) is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to common-sense, conservative solutions to campaign finance reform. I ran political campaigns for decades before becoming the executive director of Take Back and I know how well-funded special interests manipulate the system for their own benefit. Please visit the Albuquerque Journal, the largest newspaper in New Mexico, and read the entire opinion [...]

Jacob Scott has been a familiar face in the Missouri Capitol since 2014, as he has become one of the top young staffers on the Senate side of the building. ...Outside of his work in the government, Scott still finds time for politics. He volunteers for a nonprofit called Take Back Our Republic, a group whose stated purpose is to change campaign financing to give more power to individuals rather than corporations and labor unions. He serves as a regional coordinator for several states, including Missouri. Read more HERE.

This week, Take Back Our Republic hosted a "Meet and Greet" with Executive Director John Pudner at The Chocolate Bar in Huntsville. Pudner also attended the Huntsville Tea Party meeting with Speaker Mac McCutcheon. During both events, Pudner discussed the need to bring power back to the people through campaign finance reform.

We have been studying states where lobbying has dramatically grown from 2006-15. Thirteen states rank in the top ten in either or both of the highest growth rate states or most significant raw growth states: California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, North Dakota, Maine, New York, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, and Rhode Island. Today, we will take a look at the states on this list that rank in the top four in population (California, Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania) and their campaign finance laws. We start with California. The state ranks first in population, first in growth rate over our period, [...]

On Friday, Take Back Executive Director John Pudner was back on Boston Herald Drive to discuss campaign finance reform with hosts John Sapochetti and Rick Shaffer. Click HERE to listen to the interview and learn more about Take Back's efforts to spur individual participation in the American political system.